The Imperial Conference opened on Tuesday in the Cabinet Room
at 10 Downing Street. Mr. Baldwin declared that the problem before the Conference was to reconcile the principle of self-government with a general Imperial policy in foreign affairs. He was extremely happy in his quotation of a sentence traditionally attributed to St. Augustine :—" In essentials unity ; in non-essentials liberty ; in all things charity." The speeches that followed were all variations on the theme which the Prime Minister had provided. Mr. Mackenzie King said that the Commonwealth of British nations was such an unparalleled experiment that it was extremely difficult to explain it to foreign countries and scarcely less difficult for British subjects to understand it them- selves. He hoped that during the next few weeks it would be possible to clarify the political relationships of the various members of the Empire. Mr. Bruce said that the discussions would have to come under three. heads : the relation of the different parts of the Empire, the common defence of the Empire, and the trade and develop- ment of the Empire. In his belief all the Constitutional difficulties would disappear when they were examined. A written Constitution would be impossible since it would stand in the way of change and progress.
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